Jason Hawk Harris’ debut, Love & the Dark, blends his Houston country roots with LA orchestral rock. The trials and tribulations that led to the writing and recording of his debut LP read like a check list for life in America: illness, death, familial strife, addiction. In Harris’ able hands, however, these themes move beyond […]
Down to the Promised Land, Bloodshot Records 5th anniversary release turned me on to a whole world of music I was only peripherally aware of at the time. Twenty years later Too Late to Pray: Defiant Chicago Roots, Bloodshot’s 25th anniversary release, is full of the same spit and vinegar that brought Chicago roots music […]
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Out on Arrowhawk Records, Gabriel Birnbaum’s Not Alone casts Birnbaum in a new light with his brooding and sympathetic vocals at center stage. Buoyed by a cadre of some of his favorite musicians Not Alone embraces the on the fly process common among genius session masters of yesteryear – think The Wrecking Crew or The […]
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Man of the Road: The Early Bloodshot Years (Bloodshot Records) collects songs from Wayne “The Train” Hancock’s first decade with Bloodshot Records. Pressed to vinyl for the first time ever the songs were pulled from The Train’s Bloodshot releases: A-Town Blues (2001), South Austin Sessions EP (2001), Swing Time (2003), Hard Headed Woman: A Celebration of […]
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Thinking, “oh, another Beatles collection, hmm? (sigh).” Tired of Beatles themed everything under the sun? Think there can’t possibly be any more worthy musical gems to wring out of a half a century old pop catalogue? Think again! Joel Paterson’s Let It Be Guitar! (Bloodshot Records) breathes new life into a collection of Beatles’ classics […]
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Ma, Devendra Banhart’s third release on Nonesuch Records, jettisons the artificial sounds that have driven his recent work in favor of a return to natural, “human-made,” sounds. Strings, woodwinds, brass, and keyboards build upon Banhart’s vocal and guitar to create an inviting collection examining the nature of motherhood. Banhart, “addresses the unconditional nature of maternal […]
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Out on Mama Bird Recording Co. November 1st, Vetiver returns with Up On High, their first release since 2015’s Complete Strangers. Vetiver continues to mine familiar territory of dreamy California pop-tinged folk-rock to prime effect transporting the listener to a welcoming time and place beyond the daily strife of modern American life. Up On High […]
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Wet Tuna’s Water Weird finds Matt Valentine and Pat Gubler (PG Six) pushing the psychedelic edge of electrified country blues. Self-described, “brothers of the steel-string,” Matt and Pat dig deep into traditional folk-blues motifs to establish a solid foundation for their otherworldly excursions. In addition to the duo at the core of Wet Tuna, Water […]
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Tin Foil Stars from Horace Holloway is out October 4th on Dirtleg Records. Tin Foil Stars features contributions from of a group of folk indie rock’s top sidemen and women that includes Caitlin Cary (Whiskeytown), Catherine Popper (Jack White, Grace Potter, Ryan Adams and the Cardinals), Neil Flanz (Gram Parsons, Emmylou Harris), Scott Brackett (Okkervil […]
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Over 20 years after a chance encounter with Doc Watson on King Street in downtown Boone, NC landed them a Merlefest slot that launched their career, Old Crow Medicine Show still carries the torch of traditional barn-burning bluegrass into the 21st century while continuing to push boundaries and defy expectations along the way. Comprised of […]
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