By Jeff Burger The Explorers Club, The Explorers Club and To Sing and Be Born Again. The Explorers Club, led by singer, songwriter, guitarist, and pianist Jason Brewer, haven’t exactly been prolific: until last month, they’d issued only three full-length albums since 2008. So it’s a bit of a surprise that the group—whose only original […]
By Jeff Burger Bob Dylan has a habit of showing up with guns blazing just when you think he’s starting to fade. In 1974, for example, he followed a period that included relative disappointments like Self Portrait and Planet Waves with the stunning Blood on the Tracks. And a series of uneven albums in the […]
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One benefit of reviewing records is that the job exposes you to artists you otherwise might never have encountered. Many of them are forgettable, but occasionally you stumble upon a soloist or group whose work is as stunning as it is obscure. That’s the case with Jeb Loy Nichols, an American-born and -raised singer/songwriter who […]
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By Jeff Burger James Osterberg—who goes by the decidedly more hip-sounding name Iggy Pop—has twice left a distinctive mark on the music world. First, from 1969 through the early 1970s (when he was using the equally rock-ready moniker Iggy Stooge), he served as vocalist for the Stooges, a proto-punk band that made groundbreaking albums like […]
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By Jeff Burger John McCutcheon, Cabin Fever: Songs from the Quarantine. If you have fond memories of the days when variously funny and poignant topical songs from artists like Tom Paxton and Phil Ochs occupied the limelight, you’ll probably appreciate this digital-only release from John McCutcheon. The veteran singer/songwriter—who sounds a bit like fellow folkie […]
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By Jeff Burger If you’re surprised to see a blues album from Dion, you haven’t been paying attention. Yes, he is primarily known for his wonderful early-rock-era records with and without the Belmonts, but even in those days he delivered a smattering of blues tracks. And since then, Dion has periodically dipped into a blues […]
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Teddy Thompson, Heartbreaker Please. Teddy Thompson appears to have spent much of the past few years producing other artists (including the auspicious young country singer/songwriter Dori Freeman). Now, however, he’s back to making albums of his own, which is welcome news indeed. This sixth solo record, his first since 2016, features 10 tunes, all of […]
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By Jeff Burger  Steve Forbert, Early Morning Rain. This is Steve Forbert’s first album of covers since Any Old Time, his 2002 tribute to Jimmy Rodgers. Here, he casts a wider net, featuring 11 of his favorite folk and rock compositions by a motley assortment of writers. The uniformly excellent program—which mostly spotlights well-known material […]
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By Jeff Burger  The Choir—a Cleveland-area garage rock group that broke up about half a century ago after having never released an LP—are enjoying an unexpected second life. The band garnered some attention in 2017 when a reunion concert album by the Raspberries, whose members included Choir alumni, featured several of their songs. Then, in […]
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By Jeff Burger  When Lucinda Williams began her career four decades ago with a pair of albums on the Smithsonian Folkways label, it didn’t take long to figure out that she was a major talent. Still, few could have guessed back then just how adventurous or revelatory her music would become. To fully appreciate how […]
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