Bentley’s Bandstand: April 2026
Leeann Atherton, GOOD GOD. Roll back all the music since the Earth welcomed humans walking uprighht all those centuries ago, and there’s a good chance that gospel exhortations would be among the earliest. As soon as voices rose high, it was thankfulness that cracked open the spirit. Now, all these years later, singer Leeann Atherton is right there in the current numbers leading the holy parade, singing about the goodness that can be found all around. This Austin woman has covered the waterfront in her musial travels, from blues to country to rock to soul and back. And now that she’s landed in hands of the Lord, it feels like she’s found her home. Atherton never goes overboard, but always fills songs like “Put a Little Love in Your Heart,” “Call on the Lord,” “I’ll Fly Away” and all the other glorious chestnuts on GOOD GOD sound heaven sung. Her voice can travel from soft to supercharged, and most important of all, actually feels like she was heaven-sent to sing the songs of redemption. And, fortunately, Atherton has a round-up of players who seem like they were delivered straight from her heart. Gospel music has to come from that holy place living inside, and that’s exactly what GOOD GOD delivers. Half-way through the album, “I’m Looking for a Miracle” seems to take over the world from this woman’s voice and the true effect of gospel music lights up the room with a endless aura. We’re all looking for a miracle of one form or another, and that is often in the sheer ability to live another day. Once that’s accomplished everything feels alright. Leeann Atherton knows. Say amen somebody.
Inara George, SONGS OF DOUGLASS & LITTEL. The butterfly has landed. What an incredibly gorgeous collection of songs sung by Inara George. This feels like a gift we all have someone earned waiting for such an experience to occur. George, an original member of the Bird and The Bee band, is like a permanent jewel of Los Angeles music, and this brand new achievement is one of her toppers. The songs are A+ , and the moving instrumentalists take off from there. And with songs like “Tired Butterfly,” “Ice Cream in Bed,” “My Pour is a Perfect Blue” and “Undreamy Dreams,” among them all there is the true sound of an event attached to this album. Everything feels like it’s 1967 and Warner Bros. Records has been resurrected with Mo Ostin and Lenny Waronker at 3300 Warner Boulevard for a release celebration. There is beauty in the air, along with a twist of paradox and wonder. There are musical moments in life that end up being unforgettable, and Inara George’s new album is one. A live performance of these songs is set for this summer at the new Blue Note concert room in Hollywood along with other cities, and likely spirits from the past, no doubt including father Lowell George. And most likely to be a night for the ages. Seeing is believing.
Corey Harris, Alvin Youngblood Hart, Guy Davis, FIGHT ON! (TRUE BLUES VOL 2) Sometimes a blues collection comes floating in, and once played it feels like time stopped. That’s what the blues does when it’s really on the mainline. This collection of songs by Corey Harris, Alvin Youngblood Hart and Guy Davis are living in the present, but they had the strength to reach back and record a collection of songs that belong in eternity. Really. The three men joined together to show just how wide the blues can go, no matter when it first appeared in America. These three have it all. And when their fearless talents come together it feels like the blues is brand new music and Americans are being galvanized into perpituity when they hear it. From “What’s That I Smell” to “Everything I Got Is Done in Pawn” feels like there is a whole new era to learn about the blues. The three men combine their vast visions of what the blues is and where it came from, but in the end everything feels current. Which is probably why the word “timeless” fits right into all the souls of Harris, Hart and Davis. What this album absolutely proves is that in the right hands and voices, the blues is a sound that has just been born. And chances are better than not that it will never disappear. Not with the songs and wonder that lives in musicians like these and a world like today’s. Love and living.
CONCORDANCE: 150 YEARS OF CHARLES IVES. Owsley Stanley, often referred to as “Bear,” was in the middle of the Grateful Dead’s psychedelic journey that began in the 1960s in San Francisco. Needless to say, the path was long and wise. This release in the collection tagged as “Bear’s Sonic Journals” is titled CONCORDANCE: 150 YEARS OF CHARLES IVES. It is totally new to me, and I am exposing myself in regular doses to learn as much as I can by listening. Just like I did in 1968 when I first saw the Grateful Dead live on December 28 in the small Catacombs club near my Houston home. The band’s initial set that night was two hours long, and their second set, which was all songs that would soon come out on their double-album LIVE DEAD, was three hours. I’d surely never seen anything like it. Which is how I feel about listening to Charles Ives’ music. I am learning what I’m hearing, and I love it. But I can’t say I’m in a position to review it quite yet. Taking chances on new music is the history of my life, and after living with this incredible set I can hopefully be of the right mind soon to review what I hear. Like we did when the Grateful Dead first started performing around the country, and their second album, ANTHEM OF THE SUN was released. CONCORDANCE fees like a truly incredible release, gorgeous in listening and incredible in listening. Truth in advertising.
Paul Kahn, WILLINGNESS. There are some singers who feel like they have lived several lives, rounding up experiences that will teach them the lessons of seveal ages. Paul Kahn is one of those people. His voice has a weathered beauty that continually pulls the listener into a shared reverie. That’s because Kahn’s ethereal voice offers strength and solace to those looking to find a little peace of mind. Produced by Catherine Russell, all the arrangments and instrumentation stand tall without being overbearing, which lets the vocals find their way to the top of the songs. Kahn is a man of many nights and stages, and with instruments like flutes, accordions, Hammond C3 organs adding to guitars, bass and drums and let’s not forget the Hardanger fiddle, there’s a reason WILLINGNESS sounds like a category of its own. And, of course, much of that ingenuity is thanks to Kahn’s original songs, which can capture a whole range of feelings and truths without ever overstretching the right-on truths in the songs. By capturing feelings soaked in history, a contemporary grace shoots right out of the emotions with perfect grace. And the last track, “No One to Cry To,” written by Fay Willing and Sid Robin, is the perfect sign-off song, one that says all attempts had been tried, but it’s time to turn out the light and wait for a new day. True that always.
Dan Penn, SMOKE FILLED ROOM. Songwriter Dan Penn is on the highest mountain of soul. He got there by writing the kind of songs that make it hard to breathe, and turns up the beat on a heartbeat. There’s no real way to describe the feeling Penn’s songs generates. And who knew during all those years of reading his name in little letters as songwriter that the man had a voice as strong as his pencil on paper writing songs. Penn’s new album, SMOKE FILLED ROOM is overwhelming. That’s all there is to it. His voice brings the strength of the soul right down to Earth, opening his heart so he can reach right out and touch others. What’s amazing is Dan Penn isn’t a household word among the soul sets. It really is a revelation to hear now. And what brings everything home on every song on SMOKE FILLED ROOM is exactly how this man sings. It’s as real as a backroads roadblock by the Highway Patrol, and makes breathing zip into overdrive and the glory of being alive go up a dozen degrees. It’s hard to describe the ultimate realness of songs like “Leave It Like You Found It” in already-used words. It’s like it needs new descriptions in the English language to help. And there’s Penn’s voice, a glorious sound that leaves listeners breathless. To hear these songs for the first time is to find a new way to live. Better believe it.
Anne Richmond Boston, I SHOULD BE HAPPY. When the Swimming Pool Q’s appeared in a previous decade it seemed like they were the perfect band at the perfect time. Vocalist Anne Richmond Boston had just the right voice to captivate the audience then, one that was looking for new sounds which fit in the exploding world of Triple A radio. And the singer seemed like she would be one of the just-right newbies to grab the top ring. In a way it happened. But like so many bands, the next album didn’t quite get released to turn the spotlight in their direction, and then things changed with music, the band and Anne Richmond Boston herself. I SHOULD BE HAPPY, luckily, grabs the attention once again, and really does sound like something brand new, no matter when the tracks were actually recorded. The woman has a voice for the ages, and songs that fit right into what feels like a sound that can soothe some of the frantic manuevers going down in 2026, while also pulsating in a time of its own. Anne Richmond Boston really is one of the finest vocalists of this or any year, and her new album comes in some ways out of nowhere, but fits into that space to grab the attention for fans who were back there in the Q’s semi-glory days, but also take over for younger listeners now who could use a spin with the woman in 2026. Do not miss.
The Third Mind, SPELLBINDER. Talk about frying some tomatoes, The Third Mind is the kind of band that has no limits. Nunca. They’ve got every position in the band covered big time, starting with electric guitar Dave Alvin, vocalist and acoustic guitar Jesse Sykes, drums Michael Jerome, bass Victor Krummenmacher, electric guitar and vocals David Immergluck, along with special guests Willie Aron on keyboards and vocals and Stevie Black strings. Now that’s what they call a line-up. And without doubt this is an aggregation that likes to stretch out on songs of all kind. The surprise of their repertoire is one of the great things about the band, so writer credits will be held until then. But do not fear: no matter how many times you may have heard these songs proferred by the originals and beyond there will be surprises galore when SPELLBINDER rolls. There was a time in the 1960s when bands zeroed in on songs that helped bend their minds in their teen years, and they took off for higher worlds. In so many ways, this is like those days except all the players here are now fully grown and approach stretching-out in whole new patterns. There’s a new world spinning, and then some. Do not miss.
Dale Watson, UNWANTED. It often seems that country singer Dale Watson has done everything that can be done by an American artist–and then some. Born in Alabama, the man has moved around the south like a Greyhound bus, sung in every honky tonk and auditorium there is, appeared on all the television shows there are except maybe “Meet the Press,” and still keeps going. Watson has the energy of a Chevy 409 and a voice that can’t be beat. He really is one of the most true-to-the-bone country singers on two legs today, and the new album UNWANTED proves every accolade he’s ever achieved. And that’s a boatload. This is music for when the night lights shine hard and teardrops fall harder. The man’s voice cannot be beat by the country greats that can still breathe, and with all the players appearing on the album it sounds like they got so many of the living greats they could fill the Houston rodeo. But as always, it’s all about the voice for singers like Watson, and the sound of his is something that chills the bones of the livliest person on the planet. A song like “Just Yesterday” is something that sounds as if it was delivered straight from the moon and right into Watson’s head and heart. Trying to be succinct, Dale Watson is one of the great vocalists every to wear a pair of blue jeans, and can mesmerize lyrics right into the ethos. And this is an album not to miss. It can turn hurt into happiness, and loss into love. All night long.
Charlie Winton, SHADOWLAND. Here’s an artist who doesn’t mess around when it comes to recording albums. Charlie Winton spends his work days publishing books, but when he gets near a guitar, microphone and recording studio he hits the ON button and goes for broke. You won’t hear another artist in these times that pours their entire soul into the music quite like this person, coming out with a kick-ass collection of new songs that sounds like he’s been walking the dark parts of town and finding stories that just will not stop. SHADOWLAND is the creation of someone who is throwing it all on the line and isn’t looking over their shoulder. That’s what feels like the right description of Charlie Winton. His heart-beating songs are able to spray out in different directions, but they always end up telling stories of emotional generosity and no matter what, they all come out righteously real. He takes the generosity he finds in the American plateau and offers a goodness of humanity that is a soul-lifter so very needed in this upside-down world. In many ways, this is a man who is able to see the center of where we all are, and lend a hand to get to a better place. “Rising Tide,” the song in the middle of the set, brings it all together and drops a righteous rock-bomb not heard that often today. Producer Scott Mathews zeros in on what these songs have burning inside them, and then is able to put it on tape so their power is unstoppable. There really aren’t many believers in the essence of what music like this can deliver who do it any better than this man and his studio cohorts. And just so there are no questions left unanswered, album closer “Jerome” mixes it all up in a ride on the One Way Express. No going back.
BOOK OF THE MONTH
Binky Phillips, YOU’RE A LIAR BINKY PHILLIPS. Sometimes a great writer takes a few decades to kick the can all the way to Mars and then back to the printing press. Binky Phillips has been rolling high around the music boogie for 60 years, from going to all the great shows in his hometown of New York dating back to the early British bands, and then working in the hip Village record stores and playing in bands that almost made it. From there he jumped into journalism and whatever else he needed to do to stay in guitar strings, vinyl records, cool boots and the other necessities of life. His book YOU’RE A LIAR BINKY PHILLIPS is as joyous as a brand new Velvet Underground album was 60 years ago, and that’s saying something. Everything in his autobiography rings the bell. The man has a way to express how his life has turned out just as a great rock & roll album always has. It’s obvious from the first chapter this is the man to hang out with, no matter what the scene was at the time. Phillips can cause laughter and then broken hearts back to back in a chapter, and by the end of this do-not-miss tome it’s without doubt that as long as rockers and writers like him are around, the world has a chance to keep turning. Seriously. This is a book to carry on trips to keep the spirits up. As they say, rock & roll can save your life. And so can the resolute strength of Binky Phillips’ life-long dance to the music he loves so much, and always makes him the coolest guy in the room. The biggest lesson to walk away with here is you can’t just learn how to love rock & roll. You have to learn how to live it. Turn it up.
Bentley’s Bandstand: April 2026